Thermostatic radiator shutter control



Aug. 16, 1 932. J. H. EDWARDS 1,871,671

THERMOSTATIC RADIATOR SHUTTER CONTROL Filed Dec. 17, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 16, 1932 onrrsn STATES JnMEs H. nnwnnns, orcrrroeeo, ILLmois, ASSIGNOR TorINEswmTEa PANY, or cnrcaeo, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or nnrnwens PATENT OFFICE.

FRONT GOM- T nEmvrosTATro RADIATOR SHUTTER oonTraon Application filed December 17, 1928. Serial Nb.- sear.

The present invention relates to shutters for controlling the flow of air on internal combustion engines, and is particularly concerned with thermostatically controlled shut- 3 ters.

The thermally responsive shutters of the prior art have been controlled by the temperature of the metallic parts ofthe engine or the temperature of the cooling water or other fluid employed, but there is generally a considerable time lag in the temperature effects which are produced in these parts by the variations in engine conditions. It may be a considerable time after the internal teme peratureof the engine has increased before. the temperature of the water or the temperature of the engine block has raised appreciably, or enough to actuate a'shutter device.

The temperature of the exhaust gases is however a fairly good indicia of the conditions existing inside the internal combustion engine, and furthermore any device responsive to the temperature of exhaust gases may be made to close automatically on the stopping of the engine, so that the heat will be retained as long as possible after the engine is stopped.

The present invention is of universal application to cooling systems having a liquid circulation system or to cooling systems in which the engine block is cooled directly by the flow of air against the engine or against heat conducting members carried by the engine, and the drawings merely illustrate one of the conventional cooling systems included within the scope of the invention.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a thermally responsive radiator shutter control means which is extremely sensitive, and which will readily respond to varying conditions of engine operation.

Another object is to provide a thermally responsive radiator shutter control means, which will close the shutters within a short period of time after the engine ceases to operate. I

Another object of the invention is the provision .of a shutter controlling device, which is responsive to the temperature conditions actually existing in the'combustion gases of the internal combustion engine, and which is.

adapted to automatically close the shutters I thermostatic wafers.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following de-- scription and from the accompanying draw ings, in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several vlews.

Referring to the drawings, of which there are two sheets,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showingmy invention applied to an automobile engine; I

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view, showing the method of mounting the thermally responsive shutter control means on an exhaust manifold;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-, -3 of Fig. 1, showing the thermally responsive shutter control \means; v

Fig. 4 is a top plan view taken on the line H of Fig. 5, partly broken away and partly in section, showing a modified form of a thermally responsive shutter control means;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical: sectional view of the control means shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 1, I have here illustrated one of the conventional forms of cooling sys tems including an internal combustion engine 10, an enclosure 11, a shutter controlled opening 1 2, shutters 13, and a fan 1 1. The present illustration includes the usual water cooling radiator. 15, together with connections to the water jacket of the internal combustion engine 10, but I desire it to be understood that my invention includes the other conventional system of coolingengines in which a water cooling radiator is not employed, and in which the cooling air comes in direct contact with the engine or parts connected therewithj i The shutter mechanism, which has been diagrammatically illustrated, includes a supporting frame 16 together with a plurality of shutters l3 pivotally supported in the frame 16 on the trunnions 17 and adapted to close the opening 12in the front of the engine enclosure; Each of the shutters 13 is usually. provided with rea-rwardly extending flanges l8 pivotallyconnected to a shutter bar 19 and the shutter bar is adapted to simultaneously open or close a group of shutters.

The shutters 13 are normally urged to closed position by a spring 20, which may be attached to the shutter bar .19 and to the frame 16, urging the shutters in a clockwise direction in, Fig. 1, and the radiator or shutter frame may pivotally support a bell-crank lever 22 having a pin and slot connection 23 to the shutter bar 19., The bell-crank lever 22 is pivotally connected to'a'conn'ecting rod 24 provided with'a turnbuckle 25..for adjusting theeifective length 'ofthe connecting rod and ratherthan thetemperature of the engine block, and in order that the wafers may not:

be influenced by heat conducted from the engine block, I prefer to providejaninsulated section 29 in theexhaust'conduitf30; and the section 29 may consist of a short metal pipe having flanges 31' which are insulated from flanges 32 on adjacent sections of the exhaust conduit by heatinsulating gaskets 33. The

heat responsive device 27. may consist of a casing adapted to slidablysupport a plurality of wafers 28 in spaced relation to the exhaust conduit '30 in such mannerthatfthe Wafers 28 are heated by radiation fromthe insulated section 29'of the exhaust conduit 30 rather than by conduction from adjacent parts. The casing 27 may be of any shape, but in the present embodimentis substantially cylindrical and provided with a centrally located extension 34 adapted to house a spring 35 for maintaining thewafers 28 in proper position. V

i Thehousing 34 is provided with a bore 36 adapted to slidablyreceive a push rod 37 provided with a plate 38, and thespring 35 isconfined between the end of the housing 34 and the plate 38, resiliently urging the wafers 28'. against each other andagainst asupport ing'spider 39. i I f In order'thatthe wafers .28 may be supported inspaced relation to'the heated con duit section. 29,71 have provided the spider 1 65 39 which may be threaded into thecasing 27 at 40, and the casing 27 is formed with downwardly extending walls 41 adapted to embrace between the casing 27"and the pipe section c 29 at all pointswhere these parts would other- 'wise coine-in'contact andthe casing 27 may be secured upon the pipe section 29 by a pair of clamping metalstraps 44, which should 'also""be provided with a layer of heat insulation 45 interposed between the straps and the flanges 42. The stem 37 is provided with a pin'and slot connection 46 to the arm 47 of the bell-cranlr26, and the bell-crank 26 is'pivotally, mounted on the casing 27 upon an upwardly projecting lug 48.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the thermally responsive deviceis provided with a heat conducting member 49 adapted to projectinto the exhaust conduit30, so that the exhaust gases impinge upon the heat con ducting member 49and the temperature of the heat conducting memberwill be substantially. the same as the exhaust gases. In this embodiment, the casing 50 may be formed integrally witha'short section 51 of the exhaust'conduit 30, and the pipe section 51 is provided with flanges 52 which may be secured to flanges 153 on the conduit 30 by bolts 54.

A heat insulating gasket is interposed between the flanges 52 anad 53 and the bolts 54 may-also be surrounded with heat insulation 56and provided with a gasket .57 to prevent conduction of heatv from the conduit 30 to the pipe section51, of which the coni The casing 50 may be substantially cylindrical and pro-- ducting member49 is a part.

titled with an annular flange 58 adapted to support a similar flange59'carried by an innercasing 60, and the inner casing 60 comprises ajcup-shapedmember having an annular flange 59 and adapted to be received in the casing 50 with its walls in spaced relation to the walls of the casing 50. The inner casing 60: is provided witha centrally located lug 61-for engaging the adjacentthermostatic wafer 28 at its center, which is the point of greatest expansion; and the casing 50 may beprovided with a cover 62 for enclosing the wafers 28 and for slidably supporting the push rod 37. j

The cover 62 is likewise provided with a centrally-located spring housing 34 adapted to enclose a compression spring 35 and provided with a bore 36 for slidably receiving the push rod 37 The push rod 37 is provided with a wafer engaging plate 38 and the spring 35 is confined between the end'of the porting a bell-crank 26 having a pin and slot connection 46 to the push rod 37, and the bellcranl; is also provided wit-h a pivotal connection to the connecting rod 24:.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The shutters 13 are normally urged to closed position by the spring 20, and the wafers 28 are held against each other by the spring 35. In certain embodiments, the spring 35 may be eliminated. The wafers 28 are normally contracted when the internal combustion engine is not running and the turbuckle 25 is so adjusted that although the engine may be running and the wafers may be slightly heated and slightly expanded, the shutters are not opened until the temperature of the engine reaches a pre-determined point, preferably the temperature at which the engine operates most efficiently.

As the exhaust gases pass outward through the exhaust conduit 30, the pipe section 29 is heated by the exhaust gases and a portion of this heat is carried by radiation and by a limited amount of conduction and convection to the wafers 28. As the temperature of the engine increases, the temperature of the exhaust gas discharged will also increase since the gases will not be cooled so much by oontact with the surrounding engine parts, and when the engine has reached a pre-determined temperature, any further increase of temperature of the exhaust gases will cause the wafers 28 to expand sufficiently to slightly open the shutters 13. Any great amount of increase in the temperature of the exhaust gases will immediately affect the wafers 28 in such a manner that the shutters 13 are entirely opened and the cooling effect is increased before the water or engine block have become hot enough to give the usual indications. In other words, the present device being responsive to the temperature of the exhaust gases, it is adapted to open the shutters whenever the engine is laboring under conditions which increase the heating efiect of the exhaust gases, and the present device may be actuated before the bad eii'ects of increased heat of combustion have become evident in increased water heating or engine block heating.

The operation of the embodiment of Figs. 4 and 5 is substantially the same except that in this embodiment the pipe section in the exhaust conduit is provided with a heat conducting member against which the gas is impinged so that the heat conducting member 49 may follow more closely the temperature of the exhaust gases.

In this embodiment as well, the heat is carried to the wafers 28 principally by radiation across the dead air space between the casing 50 and the casing 60, so that the wafers 28 may not be excessively heated.

Up0n the stopping of the engine 10, the

heated exhaust gases will no longer be disshutter control may be made to follow more closely the heat conditions within an internal combustion engine than the devices of the prior art which are responsive to the temperature of the engine block or the cooling water. My radiator shutter control is also adapted to close the shutters after the engine has stopped, to automatically prevent the escape of heat from the engine while the car is parked.

l/Vhile I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invent-ion, and I donot wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A thermostat shutter control unit comprising a section of exhaust conduit for an internal combustion engine, said conduit bethermostatic wafers located insaid casing, a I

bell crank movably mounted upon said casing, a plunger slidably mounted in said cas ing for engaging said wafers, and a spring for maintaining said plunger in engagement with said wafers.

2. In a radiator shutter, the combination of an internal combustion engine having an exhaust conduit and cooling system, with a plurality of shutters for regulating the flow of air in said cooling system, a thermostatic unit forcontrolling said shutters, a section for the exhaust conduit thermally insulated from the exhaust conduit, a thermostat car ried by said section and subjected to radiated heat from said section, and operative'mechanic al connections between said thermostat and shutters.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 13th day of December, 1928.

- JAMES H. EDWARDS. 

